


where is home. streets are home

by posterwall



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 5+1 Things, M/M, i guess, kind of, temporary major character death!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-18 16:11:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14855963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/posterwall/pseuds/posterwall
Summary: months after keith dies in front of their eyes, a human crashes a galra cruiser into a tiny planet galaxies away from earth. what are the odds?//or: lance reliving his biggest memories with keithtitle is from portrait of ned by rex orange county 10/10 song





	1. oulea

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for clicking on my thing! this is just the introduction so it's kinda tiny!!

Lance has always liked Oulea, reminds him of those little coastal towns you see in calendars. The squat houses are built of a light, knotty wood with sloped roofs dotted in fallen leaves and moss. You can hear the sea wherever you go, and if you close your eyes you can’t even tell the tide is pulling the strange pink water in the wrong direction. The air smells of saltwater taffy and long walks down a creaky boardwalk in the chilly end of summer. 

“This is where we found him, Mr. Paladin.” His guide’s words are slurred by thick, scaly lips. Glassy eyes turn to him with concern. “Who is he? Is he important?”

It’s a rocky shore, littered with shiny sea glass. Pink water laps at pebbles and pulls them in and out of its waves. The ground crunches under his steps as he nears the crater.

“Is this where his ship landed?” It’s probably a good 10 feet long, formed by deep red sand that stains his gloves cherry when he runs his hands through it. Most of the crater is filled with seawater now.

“Yes, we were surprised he made it out alive,” The guide replies. “Such a small cruiser, going so fast we thought it appeared out of thin air. We basically pulled him out of a pile of ash.” He shakes his head. “Seemed like a good ship too, what a shame.”

“And where is he? The man you found on the ship.”

“Left as soon as we set him up with a replacement. I think he was looking for someone, a lover maybe.”

           The sky is a blank white, and beyond that lies the endless expanse of space. He could be galaxies away by now. Or he could be dead. Again. That is, if this mystery spaceman is even Keith at all.

“Are you absolutely sure he was human?”

“He was definitely the same species as you, Mr. Paladin,” He chuckles. “You sure are a funny looking bunch.”

 

_ “Lance, we can’t just abandon our mission and the coalition to go off on a wild goose chase for a man who happens to look like him.” _ Shiro said with a grim look. _ “I know you miss him... we all do, but we still have a duty, as paladins.” _

_ “Hate to be blunt here, but you-you saw him die with your own eyes. He was gone when we left that planet.” _ Pidge’s voice wavered  _ “If there was anything we could have done to save him we would’ve!” _

 

The wind is strong, and whips his guide’s robe around him like a silken flag. Seaglass, caught in the breeze, clinks as it rolls across the shore. 

“Thank you for your help sir.”

“My pleasure, Mr. Paladin.”

 

The ship, stolen from the basement of the castle, is nothing like his lion. It’s an old thing covered in flaking white paint and silver accents. He looks at himself in the tinted windshield and promises to return the cruiser to Coran as soon as he finds Keith. Then he peels off the little tracking device from the belly of the ship and crushes it under his boot.

 

_ “If you leave now, you’ll be abandoning Voltron and all of the planets we’ve ever saved.” _

_ “Is this rumor really worth it? Do you actually believe he could still be alive?” _

_ “Don’t expect me to let you take one of the castle’s ships. As far as I’m concerned you’re deranged. Leave this crazy theory alone and stop making everyone upset, Lance!” _

 

It’s loud, and a little shaky, but he gets her in the air eventually. He can see the crater from the air, a bright red streak among the stones. Keith is  _ alive.  _ He’s out here somewhere.

The stars shoot by as he pulls the ship forward. 

Question is, where?


	2. jalex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> an update? unheard of. sorry this took so long it takes me 8 days to write one mediocre sentence <3

_“Shiro when you said we were taking a break I expected a beach resort,” Hunk grumbles. He’s right. Jalex isn’t really the most picturesque travel destination, the sounds of squabbling customers and shopkeepers shouting overpower pretty much everything else. Smells like spices he’s never tasted before. The cobblestone ground is stained and weathered, but Lance can’t help but appreciated the market as something he’d appreciate in a comic book._

_“The Grand Jalex Market is a staple of interplanetary culture! It’s a valuable experience.” says Coran. Most of the shops are small, hole-in-the-wall establishments with neon signs in different alien languages and heavy curtains in deep colors. Wide bridges stretch across the cliffs above them to make room for more stalls. An egg falls from somewhere and smashes into the ground at this feet. Interplanetary culture._

_“Coran is right, it’s important for us to learn about the planets we save,” Shiro adds. “And besides, aren’t you excited to buy souvenirs?”_

_“Man, this stuff is creepy. I just wanted to chill at that purple beach for a few days!”_

_“Oh come on Hunk! You love shopping for alien things!” Lance motions towards a stall selling crystallized Nacilu toenails._

_“This thing’s toenails are as big as my face. I hate this planet.” The shopkeeper waves in their direction and flashes a wide grin._

_“Well I’m getting a toenail. Keith! Come buy a toenail with me.”_

_“I’m not going anywhere near that stall.” He smiles as Lance sticks his tongue out teasingly. Keith seems peaceful in the sunlight, hair tied up and face sweaty, playfully arguing with Allura. He gives Lance a pointed look that says ‘_ look away you idiot, you said we’d keep this quiet!’. _The shops are all shoved close together, each selling some strange, foreign oddity. It really would be funny to buy Hunk something ridiculous, but it’s the stall right by the toenails that captures his attention. A little rickety table covered in velvet, scattered with rings. The jeweler is a shoddy looking creature with teeth that stick out and long fingers. He has a scarf wrapped tight around his blue head and tattoos stretch around his neck._

_“Authentic Colyx marble. You interested?”_

  


Jalex looks… mostly the same. There are new, taller buildings poking out among the cliffs. The traveling merchants, riding something with a few eyes too many, shoot him dirty looks when he blocks their path. He’d found the toenail stall with little trouble, if you’ve ever seen a Nacilu toenail you know how they glitter in the sun, and there’s always plenty of sun on Jalex. The ring presses against his hand. A soft, red marble with alien characters on the front, deciphered by Pidge as “lettuce”. Adds to the charm.

“Sorry. No sign of any human since you left.” The jeweler says. “I forgot to ask, did your friend like the ring?” They’re smoking some sort of cigar and the smoke fills the small shop. The scent clings to the carpets hanging on the wall and makes the space feel even tinier.

“Yep. Thanks again for that, really a beautiful piece.”

“Colyx marble, the best ye can get!” They nudge one of the more expensive rings towards Lance with a gummy smile “And on sale today!”

“No thanks. Appreciate the help though”

The cool stone in his hand reminds him of holding Keith’s as he lay with his head in Lance’s lap, looking at the stars one last time. The ring had been unrecognizable. Covered in blood. He couldn’t bear to leave it on his body just to have it slip off somewhere in deep space.  

“My pleasure, you come back any time if you’re lookin’ for somethin’ pretty!”

Couldn’t wash the blood off of it. Couldn’t wash _Keith_ off of it. It was his ring after all. It sat in its original box on Lance’s desk right up until the night he left.

 

_“Lance Mcclain tell me I did not find an engagement ring in your bag right now.” Hunk holds up the offending ring and Lance starts to sweat because of course he just found an engagement ring in his bag right now. “Who are you planning on proposing to?”_

_“Not an engagement ring! It’s a ring for me. Because I_ love _myself.”_

 _“The tag on the box says_ ‘Nihir’s Engagement Rings’”

_“Can a guy not buy himself an engagement ring without being interrogated?”_

_“No. A guy definitely cannot.” Lance grabs the ring back and shoves it in his bag._

_“Who would I even propose to?” He smiles and looks at Hunk innocently. His gaze may shift to Keith, you can’t prove anything._

 

He stumbles upon the inn almost by accident. Trips right over the stones lining the steps. The juniper sign is creaky and the roof is dusted with white desert flowers that fall and get stuck in his hair as he loiters outside. _“Five star accommodation!”_ Shiro had boasted _“You all get room service for breakfast!”_ They’d had adjoining rooms by mistake, but of course he was glad for it. The ring had made him feel all light with new love so precious that you keep a secret.

 

_The gauzy curtains don’t do much in blocking out light, but the sun that peaks through them highlights his sleeping face in such a way that it’s almost worth the temporary blindness._

_“Keith,” A soft whisper. “Keiiiiiiiith.”_

_“What do you want,” Keith’s voice is muffled by pillows. “mrrf...I hate you.” It’s quiet, the good kind of silence. The type that wraps you up in a thick blanket and fills your head with cotton. There are new freckles on Keith’s pale back, probably from the sun which he never gets enough of locked up in a spaceship. His hair is all messed up._

_“You’ve been laying on me all night and I can’t feel my arm.”_

_“You….You don’t need arms.”_

_“Keith I’ll pee on you.”_

_“I’m into that.” His lips are cracked and kind of painful looking, but Lance still leans over to kiss him before wriggling out of the blanket cocoon and onto the floor._

_“That sounded like it hurt.”_

_“The bed was higher than I remembered.” Keith pokes his head over the edge of the bed and smiles at the sight of him laying on the ground in his fuzzy lion pajamas. He’s still wrapped in those dark purple blankets and they bring out the violet in his eyes. Everything is warm and still. Dust in the air looks like glitter. The whole room is tinted ochre and he could probably just lay here forever and stare at Keith’s confused face._

_“Did you get a concussion or something? Why are you still on the floor?” It was right before they’d told everyone- or rather right before Hunk had figured out why Lance wasn’t sleeping in his own bed. Probably too early to be making any type of ring related plans, but Lance had listened to the shopkeeper when he told him the alien characters said “forever”. Forever sounded nice._

_“What are you looking at? I’ll fight you.”_

 

His pocket is weighed down by the ring. Lance shuffles his feet in the sand and takes a good, long look at the building. It’s mismatched panelling squeezes right up against a shop selling donuts. The dust is heavy and stings his eyes. It’s definitely just the dust.

The door opens with a bell chime and he looks over to see a hostess. Her pink face is pulled into a scowl, and all 1..2...8 of her eyes are staring at him with disdain. She’s holding a broom and looks like she’s about to hit him over the head with it.

“No loiterin’.”

“I’ll leave.” He puts his hands up in mock surrender “Just one question, have you had any human guests lately?”

“No humans,” She shrugs. “I always ‘member humans, y’all are missing a few eyes! ” She points to her own face, which definitely has more eyes than any human Lance has seen before. Her bright red lips are still downturned. “Now get out! No loiterin’.” She’s armed herself with the broom again and sweeps at Lance’s feet with it until he starts down the stairs.

 

_“I liked Jalex” Keith says. “I want that again, all the time.” The observatory is quiet and filled with the ever present mechanical buzzing of the castle. The stars wink at them through the window and Lance presses his face into Keith’s neck._

_“I like you.”_

_“I know.”_

_“Ouch.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm trying out this format for past/present stuff, please let me know if you don't like it so i can fix it!


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